Two of our daughters and their families have again asked us to use the money we would normally spend on gifts for their families to bless a special family in Cabo San Lucas. We are especially close to this year’s family as the single father is Pastor Carlos Maciel’s nephew, Gilberto (Beto for short) Mendoza.
 
Beto grew up between the United States and Mexico, but is another example of parents who never bothered to get citizenship for their children. By the time he was in his late teens, he was well engrossed into ‘gang life,’ including criminal activity. He was imprisoned in the United States and was eventually deported to Mexico.
 
When Beto was first deported, he lived with Pastor Carlos’ family for a period of time, but he wasn’t ready for the lifestyle of Pastor Carlos’ family−or their rules−and was soon on his own in Cabo. It wasn’t long before he was arrested and placed in our local prison. He served three years there, and during that time, Pastor Carlos faithfully visited him on a regular basis and faithfully kept talking to him about Christ. Eventually, Pastor Carlos led him to the Lord. When he got out of prison, he was able to quickly get a job at one of our larger hotels since he is bi-lingual. He is now blessed by the Lord. He is very personable and gentle, and we have greatly enjoyed our times together with him.
 
After he was released, Beto took on the responsibility of raising−not only his son−but also Betito’s stepbrother. Pastor Carlos’ family is providing childcare for the two boys while Beto works six days a week.  They are also allowing Beto and the boys to stay in the former church ‘parsonage’ in back of the church at Lomas del Sol. Through God’s favor, Beto’s employer also has arranged his schedule in order for him to take a bus from where he works to where the boys go to school; then they all take the bus home to the church at Lomas del Sol.
 
Shopping Day

We took Beto and the boys out for pizza and then headed directly to the local “professional” skateboard store in Cabo Central. The boys had both previously had inexpensive skateboards from Walmart, but they were quickly broken. When Beto and the boys heard about the chance to buy something they wanted, they quickly choose quality skateboards. With the budget we had, the boys could only afford to get the boards (without the “trucks” (wheels)). They hugged those boards like a little girl does a doll.
 
The boys didn’t have to wait long for the wheels. As soon as one of our close friends heard this story, the husband asked us how much we thought the wheels would cost and handed us $150 to cover the cost of the wheels!
 
Along with their boards, Beto bought some ‘winter’ clothing for the boys and a Lakers’ baseball cap for himself. For Beto’s daughter in the United States, Candy, we purchased a “sling bag” in the United States and sent it to California with some spending money and a Christmas card from Beto.

Thank-you for everyone who made this Christmas special for Beto and his children!

If you follow our blogs, you may recognize the names of our dear friends Neil & Lee Woollacott from western Australia. Just in case you are not familiar with their story, though, let me share how God brought the four of us together.
 
As a part of the 2015 Transform Our World Conference in San Jose, CA, we traveled north to Redding, CA for an optional visit to a well-known Bethel Church pastored by Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton. After the opening dinner, we were instructed to leave our tables, form circles, and pray individually for each person seated at our table. Neil and Lee were two of the people who were at our table, and during that prayer time, their hearts were connected to ours. Later on while still in Redding, Neil asked that if they were able to travel to the US again for the TOW Conference in 2017, would it work for them to travel back with us to Los Cabos after the close of the conference. It did and so they did. They returned to the US in 2017 for the conference and flew back with us to Los Cabos for a 10-day visit. During the 10 days they spent with us in 2017, Neil and Lee developed a burden to help us with our vision of the transformation of Los Cabos.
 
One of the possible projects they were interested in seeing established in Los Cabos was the start of a Christian leadership academy (in addition to basic education from public schools), utilizing Transform Cambodia as a model. After returning to Australia after their visit with us in 2017−with Los Cabos in mind−Neil flew to Cambodia to talk to the founders of Transform Cambodia (https://vimeo.com/15589876) to see if the founders of the trust that supports the work in Cambodia would consider expanding their mission to Los Cabos. Although this may or may not come to fruition, Neil still has the vision for the first Transform Cambodia prototype in Los Cabos; dedicated to training powerful, pure, Christian leaders for Mexico’s future. Neil and Lee returned once again to Los Cabos this last October, after a 36-hour flight from their home in western Australia.
 
For eight full days, they imparted to, ministered to, and prayed over brothers and sisters in Christ in the Los Cabos area, as well as prayed over the geographic area itself. The first day of action included the Sunday morning service at Cabo English Church, our traditional Sunday chicken dinner with Pastor Michael and his wife, Laura, at Pollo de Oro, and, for Lee, a special appearance at my Sunday evening prayer class. I had prepared the class ahead of time to be ready to receive personal prayer from a special guest from Australia. The Holy Spirit blessed us with His presence and it was a memorable experience for everyone present; as well as an opportunity for Lee to be coaxed out of her comfort zone.
 
The next day, Neil traveled to San Jose with Pastor Carlos, Richard, and myself for the 8:00 a.m., Monday morning patriotic ceremony in the town square in front of the Municipal Palace. After the ceremony, the Lord brought attention to the four of us in a unique way. Our current mayor, who was elected just one year ago, had introduced the singing of the Baja California Sur state anthem to the patriotic ceremony several weeks before. We soon found out that almost no one in the government or crowd knew the words to this song. Richard−as the statesman of the family−made a point of talking to the mayor’s secretary in order to get a copy of the anthem, and after that time faithfully carried the copy of the words in his portfolio each Monday morning. When the time came to sing the state anthem during the Monday morning program with Neil, Richard and I were familiar enough with the tune that we sang with gusto (even if we didn’t pronounce all the words exactly right). Our efforts were noticed that morning! As soon as the crowd was dismissed, La Presidente led her entourage of reporters−including a TV camera−over to our little group. She very graciously took time to come over to Richard and I to thank us for caring enough about her state to work on learning the state anthem. I’m sharing this here because Neil, along with Pastor Carlos, Richard and myself, was on live footage in Los Cabos, MX.
 
After the ceremony, the four of us went to our favorite “meeting” breakfast restaurant where Neil pulled out his plans and research ideas for the location of a Christian leadership academy, as well as the layout of the Quinta Real property (that I often make reference to). The financing is not there at this point, but Neil is faithfully doing the groundwork for possible presentations in the days ahead. With Lee joining us later in the day, we proceeded to the Quinta Real property for prayer and discussion of what God’s plans for that land could include.
 
This is the end of the first part of Neil and Lee’s ‘missionary journey’ to Los Cabos. Part II is yet to come!